I know on various threads we've had different discussions on the EO bible, but I was wondering just how many books does the EASTERN ORTHODOX bible contain? Is the number agreed upon by all EO jurisdictions? Is the OSB list of books accurate? If not, could someone please list them all. Again, I apologize for sounding elitist, but I'm only interested in input from Eastern Orthodox Christians. Thanks a million!

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"The Scots-Irish; Brewed in Scotland, bottled in Ireland, uncorked in America." ~Scots-Irish saying

I know on various threads we've had different discussions on the EO bible, but I was wondering just how many books does the EASTERN ORTHODOX bible contain? Is the number agreed upon by all EO jurisdictions? Is the OSB list of books accurate? If not, could someone please list them all. Again, I apologize for sounding elitist, but I'm only interested in input from Eastern Orthodox Christians. Thanks a million!

You mean Orthodox Study Bible? That is basically it. Many have IV Maccabbees (a serous omission in the OBS IMHO), and the Russian has aother Esdras IIRC (my Slavoinic Bible is in storage).

Thirty-ninth Festival Epistle of Pope St. AthanasiusBut inasmuch as we have mentioned heretics as dead persons, and ourselves as having salvation in the divine Scriptures, I fear lest, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians (II Cor. 11:3), some of the honest ones be led astray from simplicity and chastity by the craftiness of men, and thereafter begin relying upon other things, the so-called apocrypha, deceived by the likeness of the titles with the names of the true books, I beg you to be tolerant if what things I am writing about with a view to their necessity and usefulness to the Church are things which you already know and understand thoroughly. Since I am about to state these things, by way of excusing my boldness in doing so I shall make use of the formula of St. Luke the Evangelist, who himself says: "Forasmuch as many men have taken in hand to set forth in due order a declaration on their part" (Luke 1:1) of the so-called apocrypha and to intermix these with God-inspired Scripture, concerning which we have full confidence, just as those who were eye-witnesses and servants of the Logos in the beginning have handed down the facts by tradition to the Fathers, it has seemed, good to me too to set forth, at the express request of genuine brethren and after learning the following facts from above, the rides which have been laid down as canons and delivered as teachings and believed to be divine books, in order that anyone, if deceived, may lay the blame on those who deceived him, or if he has remained clean and pure, he may rejoice again in finding himself reminded thereof. Now, therefore, he it said that the total number of books in the Old Testament is twenty-two; for, as I have been told, such is precisely the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. In order and by name each of them stands as follows. First comes Genesis, then Exodus, then Leviticus, and after this Numbers, and thereupon Deuteronomy. The rest of them are: Joshua of Nun. and Judges, and after this Ruth. And again the next are Kingdoms, four books; of which the first and the second are counted together as one, and the third and the fourth likewise as one. After these come Paralipomena (or Chronicles, first and second, likewise counted as one book. The Esdras, first and second, likewise counted as one. After these comes the Book of Psalms, and thereupon Proverbs. Then Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. In addition to these there is the book of Job. This followed by the Prophets, the twelve of which are counted as one book. Then come Isaiah and Jeremiah, and together with the latter are Baruch, Lamentations, and the Epistle, and with them are also Ezekiel and Daniel. Up to this point those enumerated have been books of the Old Testament, Those of the New Testament, again, must not be left out of the reckoning. They are: Four Gospels, according to Matthew, according to Mark, according to Luke, according to John; then and after these come the Acts of the Apostles and the seven so-called catholic (or general) Epistles of the Apostles, these being as follows: of James, one; of Peter, two; then of John, three; and of Jude, one. In addition to all these there are also fourteen Epistles of St. Paul the Apostle, which are found written in the following order: the first one to the Romans; then to the Corinthians, two; and after these the one to the Galatians and one to the Ephesians. then one to the Philippians, and one to the Colossians, and two to the Thessalonians; after which comes the Epistle to the Hebrews, and thereupon come two Epistles to Timothy, one to Titus, and lastly one to Philemon; and, again, the Revelation of John. These are all sources of salvation, so that anyone thirsting should take pains to fill himself with the sayings and facts recorded therein. In these alone it is that one may find a teaching ground on which to proclaim the good tidings of the Gospel, and to acquire the religion of piety. Let no one superimpose anything thereon, nor delete anything therefrom. Concerning these the Lord rebuked the Sadducees by saying: "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor their powers" (Matt. 22:29; Mark 2:24, John 5:31). Nevertheless, for the sake of greater exactness, I add also this, writing as I do the fact as a matter of necessity, that there are also other books than these outside of the list herein given, which, though not canonically sanctioned, are to be found formally prescribed by the Fathers to be read to those who have just joined and are willing to be catechized with respect to the word of piety, namely: the Wisdom of Solomon; the Wisdom of Sirach: and Esther, and Judith, and Tobias; and the so-called Didache (i.e., salutary teaching] of the Apostles, and the Shepherd. And yet, dear readers, both with those canonically sanctioned and these recommended to be read, there is no mention of the Apocrypha; but, on the contrary, the latter are an invention of heretics who were writing them as they pleased, assigning and adding to them dates and years, in order that, by offering them as ancient documents, they might have a pretext for deceiving honest persons as a consequence thereof.Interpretation.The Saint divides the Books into three in this Epistle of his, to wit, into Apocrypha, into Canonical, and into Anaginoskomena (i.e., books to be read). Thus, he calls the Apocrypha deceptive and spurious books which the heretics wrote and asserted to be ancient and to be parts of the divine Bible, whereby they succeeded in leading astray the more simple-minded persons and into believing that they are genuine and good. The canonically sanctioned books, on the other hand, are those of the Old and of the New Testament, all of which he enumerates by name. As for the books to be read, or Anaginoskomena, which, though not included among the Canonical Books, are not apocryphal, but, on the contrary, have been appointed by the Fathers to be read to catechumens; and these books too he enumerates one by one. The Saint says that he was compelled to mention these books separately, in order that if perhaps there be anyone who has been misled and has accepted these apocryphal and heretical books he may be corrected and warned to reject them; or, if one has not accepted them, he may rejoice at receiving further information about them. The Saint aptly employs in regard to this matter the principle of the holy Gospel according to St. Luke, both in enumerating the said canonical and to-be-read books and in urging everyone to search them, just as the Lord told the Jews to do, at which point he concludes his epistle. See also Ap. c. LXXXV.

Carthage c. 32. It has pleased the Council to prohibit the reading of anything besides the canonical Scriptures in church under color of divine Scriptures. The canonical Scriptures are the following, to wit: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, euteronomy, Joshua the son of Nun, Judges, Reigns 4, Paralipomena 2 books, Job, the Psalter, the 4 books of Solomon, the 12 books of the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, the 2 books of Ezra; of the New Testament, the 4 Gospels, Acts of the Apostles (one book), the 14 Epistles of Paul, the 2 of Peter the Apostle, the 3 of John the Apostle, the 1 of James the Apostle, the 1 of Jude the Apostle, the Revelation of John (1 book).(Ap. c. LXXXV; cc. LI, LX of Laodicea; c. XIV of Carthage; St. Gregory the Theologian in his Epics; canonical epistle of St. Athanasius 39; Amphiloch. Iconious diiamb).Interpretation.The present Canon decrees that in church nothing else shell be read that purports to be any Holy Scriptures besides these canonical books which arc herein mentioned by name, and concerning which see also An c. LXXXV and the Footnote thereto.

Laodicea 59. That private psalms must not be recited in church, nor uncanonical books" but only the canonical books of the New and of the Old Testament.

Interpretation.

Besides the 150 Psalms of David there are also some others, said to be psalms of Solomon and of other persons, which the present Canon calls "private," decreeing that they shall not be read in church, neither they, nor other uncanonical books, not contained, that is to say, in (i.e., not listed in) Ap. c. LXXXV, but only the books included in the Old and New Testaments, which books Eusebius calls "testamentary Scriptures" in Book VI, ch. 25, of his Ecclesiastical History, and which Dionysius the Areopagite calls "hagiographic Testaments" (or, in Greek, hagiographoi Deltoi). (Note of Translator. — Since the Greek word deltos merely means a solemn or official writing of any kind, and the adjective hagiographos means nothing more than "written by holy men," this locution has about the same signification in Greek as the designation "Holy Scriptures" has in English). See also Ap. c. LXXXV.

A Concise Account of the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament

Constantine Oeconomus Protopresbyter of the Oeconomi, a steward and preacher of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, was the author of a four-volume critical history comprising 3,577 pages together with an appendix numbering 120 pages, published in Athens, Greece, in 1844-1849 and entitled "Concerning the Seventy Translators of the Old Testament" (in Greek).

This author is shown by his works to have been a sincere and conscientious historian, for he refutes erroneous statements and establishes the true statements with incontrovertible citations of Scripture and historical references and with logical proofs, overthrowing the arguments of injudicious critics. It is indeed plain from the work itself that he was acquainted with several foreign languages as well as all the Greek dialects. That work, entitled "Concerning the Seventy Translators" by Constantine Oeconomus, is a proof that the Holy Spirit has operated and co-operated for ages with conscientious souls for the regeneration of the Christians and the safeguarding of the truth recorded in the Old and the New Testament — the Old Testament which was translated into Greek by the seventy Hebrew elders, and the New Testament which was written in Greek by the Apostolic writers, who were Jews and non-Greeks with the exception of St. Luke, of Greek descent but one of the seventy Apostles.

This critical history written by C. Oeconomus bears the approval of five Patriarchs, namely, Anthimus VI, together with ten synodical bishops, Anthimus IV, Constantius I, and the later Patriarchs Gregory and Ger-manos. They addressed him as "Wise and most learned Teacher," "Great Oeconomus," "General Preacher," "Exarch of the present Patriarchate," "Domine Constantine ex Oeconomorum," etc. His works were given approval in the following words: "And therefore by these ecclesiastical presents expressing the consensus of the Church we do approve and sanction the said four-volume work. Wherefore we also proclaim this most reverential disquisition a pillar of orthodoxy as concerning the sublimity of the Holy Scripture. ." (See vol. 4, pp. iv-xiv.).

The aim of that author was: on the one hand, to refute unorthodox critics who are inimical and opposed to the Septuagint; and, on the other hand, to prove that the Septuagint translation is the only genuine version rendered from the original Hebrew text before Christ, having the validity of authenticity and remaining, like the New Testament, unchanged from the beginning to the end of the world.

All the books that are to be read.

:

Of the Old Testament

1 Genesis of the World.

2 Exodus from Egypt.

3 Leviticum (sic).

4 Numbers.

5 Deuteronomion.

6 Jesus (the son) of Nun.

7 Judges. Ruth.

8 Esther.

9 (Books of) Reigns of Kings, I., II.

10 (Books of) Reigns of Kings, III., IV.

11 Paralipomena, I., II.

12 Esdras, I, II.

13 Book of Psalms 150.

14 Proverbs of Solomon.

15 Ecclesiastes.

16 Song of Songs.

17 Job.

18 Twelve Prophets.

19 Isaiah.

20 Jeremiah. Baruch. Lamentations and Epistles.

21 Ezekiel.

22 Daniel.

Of the New Testament

The Four Gospels:

According to Matthew, according to Mark, according to Luke, according to John.

Acts of Apostles; seven Epistles, as follows: One of James; two of Peter; three of John; one of Jude.

Fourteen Epistles of Paul:

Two to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, one to the Galatians, one to the Ephesians, one to the Philippians, one to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, one to the Hebrews, two to Timothy, one to Titus, one to Philemon.

Following the rule of the Catholic Church, we call Sacred Scripture all those which Cyril {Lucar ELC} collected from the Synod of Laodicea, and enumerated, adding thereto those which he foolishly, and ignorantly, or rather maliciously called Apocrypha; to wit, “The Wisdom of Solomon,” “Judith,” “Tobit,” “The History of the Dragon,” “The History of Susanna,” “The Maccabees,” and “The Wisdom of Sirach.” For we judge these also to be with the other genuine Books of Divine Scripture genuine parts of Scripture. For ancient custom, or rather the Catholic Church, which hath delivered to us as genuine the Sacred Gospels and the other Books of Scripture, hath undoubtedly delivered these also as parts of Scripture, and the denial of these is the rejection of those. And if, perhaps, it seemeth that not always have all been by all reckoned with the others, yet nevertheless these also have been counted and reckoned with the rest of Scripture, as well by Synods, as by how many of the most <156> ancient and eminent Theologians of the Catholic Church; all of which we also judge to be Canonical Books, and confess them to be Sacred Scripture.

Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth